Freight-car and door therefor



4(No Model.)

- o. PIHIX.

FREIGHT GAR AND DOOR THEREFOR. No. 459,905. Patented Sept. 22,1891.

u... "www M Humm 4 l" 1' l IIIHUI@ mille Mimi n-lhz 114: mmm evans ca Puo'mfurno., wnsmlwmn n c UNITED STATES OLIVER P. I-IIX, OF ROOKLAND, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO THE DUNHAM MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FREIGHT-CAR AND DOOR THEREFOR.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,905, dated September 22, 1891. Application filed October '7, 1890. Serial No. 367,323. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, OLIVER P. IAIIX, of Rockland, in the county of Knox and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight-Cars and Doors Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to freight-cars which are used both for carrying freights which re- Io quire the admission of air to the interior of the car and those which do not require the admission of air.

The invention consists in the improved construction of the car and its sliding doorhereinafter described, whereby the door-opening may be tightly closed to prevent the admission of air therethrough when carrying freights that do not require ventilation, and may be left partly open so as to permit free ventila 2o tion of the car without permitting access to the contents thereof, as I will now proceed to describe.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a side elevation of a portion of a freight-car provided with my improvement, the doorway being closed to prevent the admission ot' air. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. i. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation showing 3o the door adjusted to permit ventilation of the car. Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4 it, Fig. 3.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

3 5 In the drawings, a represents the side of a freight-car having the usual doorway or opening a.

`b represents a door which is supported by hangers adapted to run on a track or guide 4o above the door in the usual way, and is formed to cover the doorway and practically prevent the admission of air therethrough when the door is closed. The door is provided at its forward end with a Ventilating-section L',

which is an extension of the door, and is of such construction that it permits the free passage of air through it. Said section is preferably composed of a marginal frame 5, forming a continuation of the frame of the main 5o body of the door, and vertical rods or bars 6,

` secured to said frame and separatedby openings 7, through which the air may pass freely through the section b. I do not limit myself, however, to this precise construction, but may make the Ventilating-section in anyother suitable Way.

c represents the vertical stop or bar which is attached to the side of the carin position to arrest the front end of the door when the latter is fully closed. Said bar or stop, instead 6o of being flush with the forward end of the doorway or nearly so, as usual, is located at a considerable distance from the front end of the doorway, the stop being separated from the doorway by a space the width of which is about equal to the Width of the Ventilatingsection b of the door, so that when the door is fully closed, as shown in Figs. l and 2, theventilating-section will overlap a part of the side'of the car at one end of the doorway and 7o the solid part b of the door will tightly close the doorway. When the door is moved back from the position shown in Figs. l and 2 to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, the Ventilatingsection b is brought oppositea portion of the 7 5 doorway, so that free entrance of air through said section into the car is permitted.

The car and door are provided with suitable lneans for holding or locking the door in either of the positions above described, the 8o preferred means being a movable latch e on the rear edge of the door and two sockets or socketed plates d d attached to the side of the car at the rear end of the doorway. The socketed plate d is arranged to co-operate with the latch e in locking the door when the latter is fully closed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The socketed plate d is arranged to cooperate with the latch e inlocking or holding the door when the latter is partially opened 9o to bring its Ventilating-section into position to coincide with the front portion of the doorway, as shown iufFigs. 3 and i. Then the door is locked by the engagement of the latch e with the socketed plate cl', the forward end 95 of the ventilatingsection of the door covers the forward end of the doorway, so that entrance to the interior of the car cannot be effected. The locking devices may be of any suitable construction, and as means for lockroo ing or securing the rear edge of a sliding door to the side or body of a freight-car are already well known I do not deem it necessary to here fully describe the locking' devices in detail.

It will be observed that the described improvements involve no change in the construction of the car other than the increased length of the door involved bythe addition of the Ventilating-section to its forward end and the separation of the stop c from the forward end of the doorway and the provision of an- Y other fastening device on the side of the car to cooperate with the fastening member on the door in holding the doorin its Ventilating position.

The car is here shown as provided with two ears or brackets f f to prevent the lower edge of the door swinging outwardly from the side of the car, and the forward earfis here shown as provided with a recess or notch g, which is arranged to receive a swinging dog or catch 7L, pivoted to the Ventilating-section of the door when the door is in its Ventilating position, as shown in Fig. 3.

I claim- The combination of a car having a side doorway, a door-stop separated from the front end of the doorway by a space of considerable width, and two fixed fastening members loJ cated at diterent distances from the rear end of the doorway, a sliding door composed of a solid section formed to cover the doorway and a Ventilating-section of substantially the width of the space between the said stop and the front end of the doorway, whereby when the dool` is closed against said stop the doorway is covered by the solid section, and a movable fastening member on the door at the rear end thereof adapted to co-operate with either of said fixed members, the engagement of said movable member with one of said fixed members locking the door when the latter is fully closed, while the engagement of the movable member with the other fixed member locks the door when it is partly open, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this Qlth day ot' September, A. D. 1890.

OLIVER P. l-IIX. lVitncsses:

WILLIS C. MERRILL, IIOMER ALBnRs. 

